Vote for the best verboticism.
!['What's with this stupid pen?'](/jimage/pen.gif)
DEFINITION: v., To search for and find a pen to write down an important note, only to discover that the pen does not work. n., A moment in time when the only pens you can find, are pens that do not work.
Verboticisms
Click on each verboticism to read the sentences created by the Verbotomy writers, and to see your voting options...
You have two votes. Click on the words to read the details, then vote your favorite.
Extink
Created by: mplsbohemian
Pronunciation: ehks-TINGK
Sentence: Alex scrambled to write down the girl's phone number, only to find that the only writing utensil was extink.
Etymology: extinct + ink
Bicketline
Created by: libertybelle
Pronunciation: bick-et-line
Sentence: Darryl went through all of his pens to write down Miranda's phone number to no avail; he formed a bicketline with all of the pens that refused to work.
Etymology: bic - popular brand of pen + picket line. A bicstrike.
Scribulation
Created by: milorush
Pronunciation: (n.) skrĭb'yə-lā'shən; (intr. v.) skrĭb'yə-lāt'; (adj.) skrĭb'yə-lā'əd
Sentence: Mario suffered a moment of intense scribulation while attempting to jot down his mother's phone messages.
Etymology: scrib[ble] + [trib]ulation
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COMMENTS:
Mario's gonna get it when his Momma gets home! - libertybelle, 2007-11-06: 08:47:00
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Expendead
Created by: mrskellyscl
Pronunciation: ex-pen-dead
Sentence: Every pen I find in this house is expendead.
Etymology: expended: used up; consumed + pen + dead
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COMMENTS:
exzcellent - Nosila, 2010-03-03: 23:51:00
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Dudstriment
Created by: abrakadeborah
Pronunciation: dud-stri-mint
Sentence: All of the pens in the office were dudstriments when Sam really needed to take notes.
Etymology: Dud- a person or thing that proves ineffectual or a failure. Instriments taken in part of the correct spelling "instruments" - An implement used to facilitate work.
Ninscribe
Created by: artr
Pronunciation: nin-skrahyb
Sentence: It doesn't matter how many pens he owns, Larry always finds the one that has no ink and proceeds to ninscribe whatever urgent message he is trying to retain. Some of his pens even play jokes on him by writing a few works before transforming into paper scratchers.
Etymology: ninja (mercenary in feudal Japan reported to possess the ability to be invisible) + inscribe (to mark a surface with words, characters, etc.)
Inkvain
Created by: petaj
Pronunciation: ink-vain
Sentence: It was all inkvain. Scrabbling through the bureau drawer in search of a writing implement while the gormless game-show host rabbited on about numbers to call had proven fruitless, and Sally was left despondent that she had not been able to write down the SMS number to win $5000 on Who wants to be a Millionaire.
Etymology: in vain (to no purpose) + ink (what the pens are missing)
Styless
Created by: pungineer
Pronunciation: Style/less
Sentence: Winston's major coronary failure was prompted when he was left styless in his own home, at the very moment he needed to write down the number flashing before him on the screen, his thoughtless children had taken all the functioning pens to school...
Etymology: Stylus - writing utensil + Less - opposite of more
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COMMENTS:
No doubt his children thought he was styleless too. Daaaad, don't pick me up from school wearing that. - petaj, 2007-11-06: 07:09:00
ha, that'll teach them to steal all the good pens! - pungineer, 2007-11-06: 12:02:00
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Absinkia
Created by: Koekbroer
Pronunciation: ab-sink-ee-ya
Sentence:
Etymology: contraction of "absentia" and "ink"
Ballpointless
Created by: galwaywegian
Pronunciation: bawl poynt lehsssss
Sentence: "This pen is ballpointless!" he bawled, pointlessly..
Etymology: pointless, ballpoint
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COMMENTS:
ballistic word! - Nosila, 2010-03-03: 10:17:00
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Inkinframed
Created by: leechdude
Pronunciation: ink- in- framed
Sentence: Joe was a reporter writing notes for how to stop pollution when he finally noticed his page was blank, "I've been inkinframed!"
Etymology: ink, framed
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COMMENTS:
nice - leechdude, 2007-11-06: 21:10:00
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Penundrum
Created by: OZZIEBOB
Pronunciation: pen-NUHN-druhm
Sentence: Bob faced a penundrum when his biro pendripulated as he tried to write down the address of his new girlfriend - Woodraliggunie st, Gutchboordankendockenarup, Western Australia. Despite his dyspengraphic pleadings, she remained unsympathetic presenting him with a penultimatum: get one that writes or get lost!
Etymology: Blend of pen & conundrum: a puzzling question or problem.
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COMMENTS:
I think Bob should buy some pencils - Jabberwocky, 2007-11-06: 13:51:00
I guess Bob will never get to go to Camp Comeoniwannalaya with his new-found girlfriend. (great word ozzie!) - purpleartichokes, 2007-11-06: 19:58:00
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Stupenaled
Created by: looseball
Pronunciation: stew pen awld
Sentence: Look at him that pen has never worked I just lay it down and stupenal him every time.
Etymology:
Pennotwritis
Created by: tuckerdognc
Pronunciation: Pen-not-wri-tis
Sentence: I can't believe I have pennotwritis again. I could have sworn I threw all these out.
Etymology: thought to be from the latin, pendenitis, the affliction caused by having too many pens.
Pentrialdysfunction
Created by: bzav1
Pronunciation: pen + trial + dysfunction
Sentence: Sometimes, after a long stressful day, even though Jerry really wanted to write, he would suffer from pentrialdysfunction. His wife would reassure him, tell him everyone has trouble writing sometimes and that she would help him find a pen that worked in the morning, after a good night's sleep.
Etymology: oh my!!
Inkpediment
Created by: Tigger
Pronunciation: ink-PED'e-ment
Sentence: Unable to find a working pen, Barbara walked from room to room repeatedly chanting the phone number, while hoping to overcome her inkpediment.
Etymology: ink + impediment
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COMMENTS:
or inkPENdiment, perhaps. - MrDave2176, 2007-11-06: 09:19:00
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Bickenscratch
Created by: xirtam
Pronunciation: bic-en-skrach
Sentence: With the only pen I could find out of ink, I had to bickenscratch the phone number into the note pad so I could read the indentations later.
Etymology: bic: a brand of pen + Chicken Scratch: slang; poor or illegible writing. Scratch: To write or draw by scraping or cutting the lines into a surface.
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COMMENTS:
To be precise, this is the inevitable result of the event described, but I like it! 'He bickenscratched his way through the morning until he finally found a pen that worked.' - Tigger, 2007-11-06: 13:23:00
I like it too. Resembles my grocery list. - purpleartichokes, 2007-11-06: 20:01:00
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Inkconspicuous
Created by: Jabberwocky
Pronunciation: in/kon/spic/yu/us
Sentence: Maybe if he pressed hard enough on the paper he would be able to see an outline of his words but the pen was virtually inkonspicuous.
Etymology: ink + inconspicuous
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COMMENTS:
Like it! - TJayzz, 2008-10-03: 14:28:00
good one! - Nosila, 2008-10-03: 20:15:00
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Mispenning
Created by: thebaron
Pronunciation:
Sentence: She tried to finish her love note, but she kept mispenning.
Etymology:
Montblanked
Created by: Kyoti
Pronunciation: Mahnt-blaynkt
Sentence: Rudy scribbled and scratched on his legal pad, leaving dozens of swirly deep grooves, but no discernible ink marks of any kind appeared on his paper, and he was forced to accept that he'd just been completely montblanked.
Etymology: Mont Blanc: fancy French pens with fancy French price tags + Blanked: a term sportscasters like to use to indicate a shutout, especially when referring to the visiting team.
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COMMENTS:
so many great words today! - Jabberwocky, 2008-10-03: 09:48:00
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Pendemonium
Created by: ahniwa
Pronunciation:
Sentence: "I can't ... what!? Hold on ... no, I need to write this ... yeah, one sec ... crap, no ... the pen's broken! Yeah, no ... it's pendemonium over here, no doubt."
Etymology: Inky pandemonium.
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COMMENTS:
I like it! - lumina, 2008-10-05: 11:36:00
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Frupenstration
Created by: remistram
Pronunciation: fruh-pen-strey-shun
Sentence: By digging a small grave for all his old pens helped his frupenstration anxiety, but he did keep his favorite purple pen under his pillow - in case the pen fairy happened to come around.
Etymology: frustration + pen
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COMMENTS:
has a great sound to it - would be very satisfying to mutter when searching for a pen - Jabberwocky, 2007-11-06: 14:03:00
thanks! I was going to go with fruspentration, but it sounded odd...! - remistram, 2007-11-06: 16:20:00
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Impentent
Created by: zxvasdf
Pronunciation: Im pen tent
Sentence: He scrambled for a pen as soon as a Pulitzer winning idea took shape in his brain, but as many have before and many will afterwards,encountered impentency. The idea faded, leaving him to angrily mutter at the pen, "Impertinent impentent pen!"
Etymology: Impotent (sterile) & Pen (writing instrument)
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COMMENTS:
He needds some Viagra in his ink! - Nosila, 2008-10-03: 20:18:00
I've seen Viagra on pens, but I would be extremely concerned if I found some in my pen. - zxvasdf, 2008-10-03: 23:11:00
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Plastick
Created by: artr
Pronunciation: plastik
Sentence: Tommy thought he had a drawer full of pens. When he went to use them he found one plastick after another. He might as well have a fistful of tongue depressors.
Etymology: plastic (a synthetic material made from a wide range of organic polymers such as polyethylene, PVC, nylon, etc) + stick (a thin piece of wood that has been trimmed for a particular purpose)
Pendaver
Created by: Stevenson0
Pronunciation: pen/daver
Sentence: It's another of Murphy's Laws that writing utilsils turn into pendavers when an important message needs to be scribbled.
Etymology: pen + cadaver
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COMMENTS:
kinda gruesome but apt - porsche, 2007-11-06: 14:05:00
Good word! - OZZIEBOB, 2007-11-06: 16:54:00
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Peninkless
Created by: Mustang
Pronunciation: PEN-ink-less
Sentence: Farley finally found a pen but he was again frustrated,as the pen was completely out of ink but it was bitter irony since he had intended to write a check on an empty bank account...he was both peninkless and momentarily penniless as well.
Etymology: Blend of 'pen', 'ink' with suffix 'less' (without) play on the word penniless
Forsakepen
Created by: MrDave2176
Pronunciation: for-SAYK-pen / KWILL-kwest
Sentence: Joel was feeling foresakepen. His quillquest netted him a handful of nibarren plastic rods useful for little more than stirring coffee. Nibarren = empty nib (the thing that dispenses the ink)
Etymology: foresa(ken) + pen / quill (a quill is always useless without ink) + quest
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COMMENTS:
very good - lots of great words in your sentence - Jabberwocky, 2007-11-06: 11:40:00
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Sypened
Created by: annbananne
Pronunciation: sigh pend
Sentence: When you really need to write something down you usually can only find sypens.
Etymology: syphen: ink was syphened out pen: pen (duh)
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COMMENTS:
good one! - Jabberwocky, 2007-11-06: 13:52:00
I like it too! - OZZIEBOB, 2007-11-06: 16:57:00
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Penninkless
Created by: Mustang
Pronunciation: Pen-ink-less
Sentence: Marvin searched in vain for a pen that would dispense ink evenly but sadly, he remained penninkless
Etymology: pen - ink -less
Bictimized
Created by: purpleartichokes
Pronunciation: BIK-tum-ized
Sentence: The infomercial was urging him to "CALL NOW!!", but where was the freakin' pen to write down the number!? Finally finding it right where he left it, wedged between the telephone and milk in the refrigerator, he snatched it up and began to write down the number. But, alas, it would not produce anything more than a small dent in the paper, leaving Bob, once again, bictimized.
Etymology: Bic (brand of pen), victimized
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COMMENTS:
The noun would be a "bicdemise". - purpleartichokes, 2007-11-06: 04:59:00
That would be the moment when he threw the useless calligraphic instrument into the bin. - petaj, 2007-11-06: 07:11:00
On the plus side, that probably saved Bob from later suffering buyers regret. - libertybelle, 2007-11-06: 08:50:00
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Bictimized
Created by: bookowl
Pronunciation: bik/tim/ized
Sentence: There were two signatories and two pens to choose from, one that had a grey cover and one that was clear with a reservior of blue ink showing through. He chose the clear pen and realized when he put the pen to paper with no result he'd been bictimized again.
Etymology: bic + victimized
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COMMENTS:
If you have been a bictim, raise your hand. - zxvasdf, 2008-10-03: 13:41:00
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Paperblankwriter
Created by: TJayzz
Pronunciation: Pay-per-blan-k-ry-ter
Sentence: When Steve's boss called to tell him the date and details of a very important meeting, he thought he had better make a note of it as his memory was not his best asset. He picked up the nearest pen but it had run out of ink so he tried again , only to realise that all the pens in the house were paperblankwriters that refused to work. He made a vow to himself that next time he would always buy his pens in bulk and discard them as soon as they were running out.
Etymology: Paper(material made from wood pulp used for writing on) + Blank(empty, plain, not marked) + Writer(a device that writes information) = Paperblankwriter
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COMMENTS:
playing the Beatles card eh? clever - Jabberwocky, 2008-10-03: 09:46:00
Being British what else could I do? - TJayzz, 2008-10-03: 13:06:00
A Hard Day's Write?? - Nosila, 2008-10-03: 20:16:00
hard to beatle. - OZZIEBOB, 2008-10-05: 17:36:00
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Pendicament
Created by: Eyeshah
Pronunciation: /pen-DIK-uh-mint/
Sentence: Pennelope found herself in quite the pendicament (quilemma) when her professor decided to give a pop quiz, and her backpack rummagings for a functional pen proved fruitless.
Etymology: pen+predicament=pendicament
Quilliterate
Created by: porsche
Pronunciation: kwill/it/ur/at
Sentence: Without his ink source Dave was quilliterate.
Etymology: quill + illiterate
Abicphany
Created by: fourgirls
Pronunciation: ah-pif-uh-nee
Sentence:
Etymology: abic - Without a pen epiphany - a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something
Emptipendink
Created by: NeuroGlyph
Pronunciation: Empty-Pend-Ink
Sentence: It is better to be pendink on a sharpened pencil than emptipendink on a non-working pen.
Etymology: Independent/dependent...sub the dent w/ink.
Birony
Created by: Nosila
Pronunciation: by ron ee
Sentence: It was one of life's bits of birony that Fred could only find pens in his house that were all out of ink. He could never find the write stuff!
Etymology: Biro (a pen that has a small metal ball as the point of transfer of ink to paper) & Irony (incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs)
Yeahuhholdonasec
Created by: thegoatisbad
Pronunciation: yeah-uh-hold-on-a-sec
Sentence: Kimberly was in for a frustrating day when Zinnia traded all of her well-hydrated pens with their desiccated cousins from long forgotten junk drawers. Zinnia could hardly contain her amusement as Kimberly constantly yeahuhholdonasec'ed with customers placing large scale orders of sweaters.
Etymology: it's what you say on the phone when you can't find a pen
Penmurphy
Created by: cawnpore
Pronunciation:
Sentence: When he finally met her and got Jessica's phone number, he penmurphied (and later that evening killed himself).
Etymology: pen+murphy (from Murphy's law)
Ironical
Created by: jsmccarty82
Pronunciation: I-ron-ick-al
Sentence: It seems that this journal is a chronicle of ironies. Hey it should be called an ironical journal!
Etymology: A chronicle of ironies.
Thenotwritestuff
Created by: Nosila
Pronunciation: The not rite stuff
Sentence: When the first astronauts went up in space, they had thenotwritestuff for report writing, because the lack of gravity prevented the ink from flowing down the shaft and appearing on official NASA notepaper. This where the famous line, "Houston, we have a problem" was born. After the Astronaut Pen was invented, where you could write upside down or at any angle, proper records could be documented. This was long before any computers were available (except HAL) to enter data. Imagine then how many alien encounters were missed or not reported because the crews had thenotwritestuff! Have you any ink-ling? The biro-ny...they can get a man on the moon, but they cannot invent a pen that does not dry up!
Etymology: The Not (negative) Write Stuff (play on Right Stuff(Essential abilities or qualities;dependability,etc.necessary for success...also name for a Hollywood Movie about astronauts chosen for the space program)
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COMMENTS:
Good sentence. Funny, cud have just splurged a buck for a dozen of pencils instead. - zxvasdf, 2008-10-03: 13:39:00
Then they would have had to get the lead out! Cheers! - Nosila, 2008-10-04: 23:08:00
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Ballpointless
Created by: artr
Pronunciation: bôlˌpoint lis
Sentence: Rusty had a wonderful idea. This happened so infrequently that it seemed imperative to write it down. He reached for a ballpointless pen and proceeded to do little more than tear a hole in a piece of paper. This whole exercise was ballpointless. He then had to try his entire collection of paper scratchers. As he looked at the advertising message on a pen and wondered where he had pilfered each one, the original thought he wanted to save for humanity slowly faded away, never to return.
Etymology: ballpoint (a pen with a tiny ball as its writing point) + pointless (having little or no sense, use, or purpose)
Peninkless
Created by: Mustang
Pronunciation: PEN-ink-less
Sentence: As was so often the case when he needed a pen in an important moment the only one Germain could find was completely dry and leaving him peninkless once again.
Etymology: Blend of pen and ink with the suffix 'less', (without)
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COMMENTS:
poor Germain - Jabberwocky, 2008-10-03: 09:45:00
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Penopausal
Created by: OZZIEBOB
Pronunciation: pen-o-PAWZ-uhl
Sentence: Penopausal made Bob feel powerless when it caused him to miss a once in a life-time date with Jennifer Hawkins.
Etymology: PEN:a writing implement& PAUSE: to cause to cease +AL: suffix:kind of, pertaining to.
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COMMENTS:
very funny ozzie - Jabberwocky, 2008-10-03: 09:44:00
Good one! - TJayzz, 2008-10-03: 13:09:00
What happens when you combine penopausal with a menopausal woman...? I shudder to think about it. - zxvasdf, 2008-10-03: 13:40:00
Murder, She Wrote! - Nosila, 2008-10-03: 20:19:00
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Inkubaiter
Created by: lumina
Pronunciation: eenk/u/bate/r
Sentence: Ralph could not sleep again. As usual he found himself up at 3:30 a.m. in front of the TV. Nothing but infomercials and shopping channels. Suddenly to his delight, there was a "Call in the next 15 minutes and get the entire set for just $199.99" announcement. He didn't really need anymore Star Trek paraphernalia, but who needs any in the first place, right? He got up off the couch and ran to the kitchen junk drawer for a pen, only to find when he got on the couch that he had grabbed nothing but an inkubaiter. As he ran back to the junk drawer for another writing instrument, he heard, "And that about does it. Our time is up. Live long and prosper!"
Etymology: *ink* bait:To entice, especially by trickery or strategy. (spinning of incubator)
Pendysfunction
Created by: tuckerdognc
Pronunciation: pen diss func shun
Sentence: I can't seem to find a pen without pendysfunction.
Etymology: Pen + dysfunction.
Peninsulate
Created by: QuantumMechanic
Pronunciation: pen en suh late
Sentence: I knew the answer, but I didn't couldn't call in to win, because I was peninsulated -- all of the pens I found were dead.
Etymology: pen (ink writing instrument) + insulate (isolate), parallel to peninsula (an isolated spit of land)
Inkompentense
Created by: Nosila
Pronunciation: ink kom pen tens
Sentence: Inkredibly inkonvenient is what he thought. Here he was trying to find a pen that worked to write down the number given him on the phone message he had just accidentally erased from his answering machine...while that number was still in his head. His inklination was to give up, but it would be inkonsiderate to not call back and arrange that interview. Heaven knows his inkome relied upon his getting hired for this great job. At this moment, without a functioning pen, he was in a state of inkompentense. Luckily, he found his cell phone and managed to get the number inkarcerated into it, before it was lost in the fog of poor memory. Hopefully he would not sound inkoherent at his interview...
Etymology: Incompetence (inability of a part or organ to function properly) & Ink (a liquid used for printing or writing or drawing) & Pen (writing implement) & Tense (make tense and uneasy or nervous or anxious;a grammatical category of verbs used to express distinctions of time)
Dristylus
Created by: idavecook
Pronunciation: Dry-STRY-lus
Sentence: After repeatedly licking the pen Chip was now under the all to common spell of dristylus.
Etymology: Dry + Stylus "i" for fun!
Birony
Created by: Nosila
Pronunciation: by ro nee
Sentence: The birony was that when Eddie needed a pawn to record a message, he could never find one. Nevermind all his pens were MontBlanc's, Crosses and other expensive names, none worked properly, not even the uBICuitous free ones he collected!
Etymology: Biro (a pen that has a small metal ball as the point of transfer of ink to paper)& Irony ( incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs)
Pendaver
Created by: Stevenson0
Pronunciation: pen/daver
Sentence: It's another of Murphy's Laws that writing utensils turn into pendavers when an important message needs to be scribbled.
Etymology: PENDAVER noun - from PEN (instrument for writing) + CADAVER (a dead body)
Inklessdilemma
Created by: kellysue94
Pronunciation:
Sentence: i was having an inklessdilemma yesterday
Etymology:
Inkommunicado
Created by: yellowbird
Pronunciation: inka-myoo-knee-ka-dough
Sentence: I was inkommunicado at the meeting and I think my boss might have noticed.
Etymology: ink + incommunicado (not able to communicate)
Inkoherent
Created by: galwaywegian
Pronunciation: ink oh hee rent
Sentence: the inkoherence meant he just had to scrape her number onto his arm.
Etymology: incoherent ink
Pendaver
Created by: Stevenson0
Pronunciation: pen/daver
Sentence: It's another of Murphy's Laws that writing utensils turn into pendavers when an important message needs to be scribbled.
Etymology: PENDAVER noun - from PEN (instrument for writing) + CADAVER (a dead body)
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COMMENTS:
I bet Dexter has several pendavers - Jabberwocky, 2008-10-03: 09:47:00
Good word - OZZIEBOB, 2008-10-05: 17:35:00
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Penacide
Created by: aiiden
Pronunciation: penuh-side
Sentence: Damn penacidal pens!
Etymology: pen+suicide
Inkonspicuous
Created by: Jabberwocky
Pronunciation: in/kon/spic/u/us
Sentence: Maybe if he pressed hard enough on the paper he would be able to see an outline of his words but the pen was virtually inkonspicuous.
Etymology: ink + inconspicuous
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COMMENTS:
sweet - leechdude, 2007-11-06: 21:14:00
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Impeniment
Created by: artr
Pronunciation: impenəmənt
Sentence: When Ralph saw the infomercial for the most wonderful thing he had even seen on late-night TV he just had to have it. As they displayed the phone number he frantically tried one impeniment after another. By the time he found one that worked they had moved on to products for incontinence. Ralph was pissed-off.
Etymology: impediment (a hindrance or obstruction in doing something) + pen (an instrument for writing or drawing with ink)
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COMMENTS:
your sentence almost made me pee in my pants - thegoatisbad, 2010-03-03: 14:17:00
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Leftwritewrong
Created by: serickson
Pronunciation: left rite rong
Sentence: Mary, where is the pen I put here yesterday? What do you mean I didn't put it ther; of course I did. Here it is, what did I tell you! (Oh, shucks, I am definitely not telling Mary I'm having another leftwritewrong. It did too work when I put it there, and I do not have Alzheimer's!)
Etymology: leave-left-had left..to put something somewhere and let it stay there; write-right-rite..mantra spoken when looking for a pen; wrong..both you and the pen
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Comments:
Today's definition was suggested by vixphilia. Thank you vixphilia! ~ James'
OZZIEBOB - 2007-11-06: 16:53:00
Good word!
Today's definition was suggested by vixphilia. Thank you vixphilia. ~ James
Petrikreink - 2020-03-03: 05:14:00